Editor's picks: What we're reading on the Web this week

By Vanessa De La Rosa

Each week, we ProducersWEB editors dig up some interesting and informative articles online. We have collected some of this past week’s top stories from around the Web and would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

“Washington is engaged in an all-consuming debate about how to resolve the “fiscal cliff” — which we like to call, for reasons that will soon be explained, “the austerity crisis.” But what is that and why does it matter? We at Wonkblog put together a FAQ to sort it out. And we’ll keep updating this FAQ as the debate rages on.”

“The good news, Morningstar said, is that pensions’ fiscal health changes slowly, and struggling plans are often identified years before they suffer substantial stress on their funding. Investors should take note of plans that have a significant unfunded liability, a funded ratio that is low or falling, high UAAL per capita, annual contributions that are lower than the required level or that increase quickly, and pension costs that make up a significant portion of government spending.”

“The money that the government spends to encourage Americans to save for retirement is money that cannot be spent on deficit reduction, education, health care or other priorities. The study suggests that the money has little effect on the retirement security of lower-income families, either.”

“I strongly disagree with Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pledge. But I believe his views are sincere. And I condemn those who substitute personal attacks on Norquist for factual arguments to prove him wrong.”

“Along with prepping the nursery and stocking up on diapers, expectant parents should add one more item to their to-do list: Taking out, or beefing up, life insurance policies. Their children might one day depend on it.”

“Investors constantly balance their desire for the highest possible returns against their desire to guard against big losses. For many people, that balance was thrown off in recent years with the wild swings in financial markets. The prospect of further downturns has left them shaken—and more cautious.”

“The world of hedge funds may be shrouded in secrecy. But savvy investors can profit handsomely by following the public moves of some of the industry's high-profile players, especially as many are taking a more active role in cleaning up troubled companies.”

“A 2012 study from the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that the median amount American households donate to charity each year is $2,564. That's a nice chunk of change, but not if you're divvying it up among dozens of organizations.”